Mild

The Szechuan Sauce

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Alright everyone, it’s time to get schwifty, so pull down your pants and-

Okay, no. I’m not finishing that reference. Rick and Morty really isn’t the highbrow, adult comedy that its fans would like you to think and that level of toilet humour is just gross. Even for a chilli reviewer, like myself, who inevitably has to hear a tonne of it.

But, the show’s supposed intelligence aside, there is something else that it’s known for. Which is the absolute ridiculousness of the szechuan sauce debacle, caused by the start of its third season. The raids on McDonald’s stores, across the US, all in search of a long-discontinued tie-in to the original Mulan film.

Frankly, I’ve no idea why people cared so much about a simple szechuan sauce – Especially one with such an uninspired list of ingredients – but that absurd uproar did have some interesting knock-on effects. Including inspiring a whole host of more authentic chinese flavours in the american hot sauce market. As well as a few further afield and even one or two here, in the UK.

Today, I want to look at one example, in particular, which comes to us from Balefire, in durham:

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Dark and Saucy

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Hello again everyone and welcome to another of my weekly reviews. Today, I’m looking at a freebie from our friends at Chilli of the Valley and it’s their korean one. Their KBBQ-style Soseu.

A huge departure from the Black Death that they sent me last time, in heat if not in colour, because this one is actually one of their mildest products. Made for intense flavour, rather than that reaper fire, and only given the extreme heat in an alternate, extract version.

If any of you want to see that, let me know and I’ll bring Chilli of the Valley back again for this year’s birthday review. But, in the mean time, I’m looking to unwind after a rough few days with something rather gentler.

Let’s give the Soseu a go!

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Tom’s Teriyaki

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Happy new year! It’s the first of february today and it just so happens that that marks the start of twenty twenty-two on the lunar calendar. The chinese new year, if you will.

And, unfortunately, I used up my most tiger-themed sauce last year and don’t have anything too on brand for the holiday, this time around. In fact, I’m fresh out of specifically chinese sauces altogether, right now, but I do have two new asian-style ones from Tubby Tom’s, all the same:

His mild Tubbyaki and a second, slightly more special, test batch, amped up with ghost pepper and yuzu. Both chock full of sweet soy, ginger and garlic.

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Chilli Project Padrons

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Hey folks, I believe I promised to show you all the first of my sponsored recipes this weekend. So, to get things started, I’m going to take a look at what can be done with The Chilli Project‘s 💰Fatalii Chilli Salt💰.

A delightfully citrus-tinged, mellow and peppery, yellow chilli product which really brings out the freshness of my fried padrons.

And sure, I’ve talked about this appetiser in the past but never quite like this. Not with today’s blend of african chilli salt and earthy, indian spices, pushing the peppers’ own nuttiness to the next level, while also bringing forth subtle fruity hints which I never knew were there before.

If you like padrons, you’ll love this brand new take on them and, while they might not be in season right now, the middle of january is when I most often see them in stores. So there’s no easier time to give this dish a go!

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Three Green Kings

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Hey folks, I know that it’s the fourth today but it’s still my first review since december. So happy new year!

This time around, the postal service has been a little more on point and I’ve been a little more prepared, as well. Meaning that I’ve got not one, not two but a whopping three different green chilli sauces to show off. Each from a producer who’s work is entirely new to me and who uses a highly unusual ingredient, as well.

For the start of twenty twenty-two, I bring you Great Scott Hot Sauce’s Apple, Gooseberry & Serrano, Orriss & Son’s jalapeño and nettle “Fresh Tendrils” and Mack Chilli’s Jalapearno. Which is an awful portmanteaux but definitely gets its key ingredients across.

Here’s how the lot of them look:

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Strawberry Sriracha?

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Happy tuesday again, everyone. Today, there’s one last little freebie that I have to feature, before the year is out. So go ahead and take a look at this crazy concoction, sent to me by Alkemio Kitchen:

Its labelling may look the same as all of the company’s others but this brown sauce is their Strawberry, Roasted Pepper + Tamarind Sriracha. Which is a highly peculiar, yet enticing, jumble of words. Especially given how much I enjoyed the blend of savoury red peppers and sweet strawberry in The FBI’s Ball Breaker.

Have I saved the best for last? Not intentionally but perhaps I have.

Let’s take a closer look.

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Fresh Hell

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And just like that, folks, we have a theme. Not one that I ever intended, mind you. I didn’t mean to go on a binge, revisiting a bunch of old favourites.

My second shot at the EEC‘s 🔥chance🔥 just so happened to coincide with a new release from Opal Sunshine that may or may not end up being limited edition. So I had to get that review out quickly and I’m having to do the same with today’s pair, too. If only because one of them might not last, otherwise.

I’m talking about the two most recent additions to Haskhell’s line-up – Their Piquante and their Horseradish:

One made with ghost pepper, for some serious heat, and the other chock full of one of my favourite mild chillies – The sweet and succulent malawi picanté. More commonly known by its brand name, Peppadew.

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Bonnie Wee Spice

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Hey folks, I’m scottish and I’ve mentioned that a few times on here. Especially when highlighting companies from my homeland. But, as much as I appreciate scottish sauce, I don’t actually live there and I haven’t done so in many years.

I only see the high profile stuff. The Singularity Sauce Co.s, who make big internet appearances, and the Foraged Fires, who shock social media with their wild ingredients.

The smaller companies do pop up online, occasionally, but even when they do, they don’t always make a good impression. Like today’s jalapeño and chipotle pair:

Two products from The Bonnie Sauce Co., in edinburgh, who’s website is grey, gloomy, uninviting and full of desaturated, off-colour images of their craft. Of sauces which actually look quite enticing, in real life, yet might well have gone entirely untasted if my relatives hadn’t found them in person, while visiting my sister.

So, before we begin today’s review in earnest, I’d like to take a brief moment to thank my family for their find and remind you all that not everything is as it appears online.

Then we can give them a closer inspection.

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Indian Fruit & Fire

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Sup folks, it’s tuesday again and, I’ve held off on this pair for a little too long already. So, today, we’re going to see a couple more mango sauces, from Alkemio Kitchen and Hop’t:

Two rather unique takes on this fruit and chilli combo from two very experimental companies. One featuring green jalapeños, red scotch bonnets and citrussy hops, while the other’s more focussed on indian spices, including turmeric, cumin and nigella seed.

Neither sounds quite like what I’m used to but that’s part of the fun of running a blog like this. I get to try a tonne of unique flavours and, hopefully, find something which I truly love.

Now let’s see if I’m going to do so today.

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Mexican Sky

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Hola, mi amigos! Tomorrow is mexican independence day. So, today, we’re going to take a little look at something thematically appropriate, imported by Mex Grocer.

This huge bottle holds Ki’ Gourmet’s Cielo Rojo. Or “Red Sky”, for those of you who don’t speak spanish. A blackberry and chipotle morita sauce, which sounds unlike anything that I’ve had before.

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